Religion and Philosophy

Now more than ever, the committed citizen of the world must understand what fellow humans believe. This page presents useful resources on the major religions and philosophies of the world.

This page:

Religion, generally |

Western Religions: Judaism (opens new page) | Christianity | Islam | Zoroastrianism | Mythology |

Western Philosophy | Humanism, Secularism |

Eastern Religions: Hinduism | Sikhism | Buddhism | Taoism | Confucianism |

Religion and Philosophy Beyond Cyberspace

Religion, generally

• BeliefNet - Information on religions of the world
• Religious Studies Web Guide - Guide to open access academic resources for the study of religion. Sacred texts, music and liturgy, journals, dictionaries and encyclopedias, data and statistics, bibliographies and indexes. (University of Calgary Library)
• Sacred Texts (British Library)
• Virtual Religion Index (Rutgers)
• The Association of Religion Data Archives - Statistics on religion for the U.S. and other countries: numbers of adherents, religious freedom, public opinion
• Religions - Extensive descriptions of world faiths (BBC)
• Exploring Religions - by Paul Flesher, University of Wyoming
• Finding God in Cyberspace - Links on religion in general and specific religions
• Internet Sacred Texts Archive - Sacred works of many religions. (These are works in the public domain, so some are dated or old-fashioned translations.) [sacred-texts.com]
• Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance - Advocates tolerance and describes dozens of faiths [religioustolerance.org]
• Pew Research Center's Religion and Public Life Project - Conducts public opinion research on religious issues
• Swiss Metadatabase of Religious Affiliation in Europe (SMRE)

Religion News:

• BBC:
• Religion and Ethics
• Heart and Soul - BBC Radio program on religion
• Religion Dispatches
• Religion News Service
• The Revealer - "A daily review of religion and the press"

Western Religions

Bible:

See also

• Jewish Holy Books
• Bible Gateway - Search multiple translations of the Bible and other reference materials
• Blue Letter Bible - Search various versions of the Bible; read [Christian] commentaries
• Books of the Bible - Catholic version, including Apocrypha (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops)
• OpenBible - Identifiable place names from the Bible shown on satellite images from Google Maps
• Oremus Bible Browser - Compare passages in different translations or search keywords
• Bible Study Tools - Concordance, verse of the day, commentaries
• Unbound Bible - Search multiple translations

King James Version:

• King James Bible - (Bartleby)
• King James Version - Search or browse
• JSTOR Understanding Series - Criticism of Shakespeare's works, British literature, and the King James Bible

Judaism

See my Judaica, Israel page

Christianity

• Christianity 101 (Gospel Outreach)
• Christianity Today - News and links
• CrossSearch - Large directory
• Research Guide for Christianity (Yale University Divinity School Library)
• Global Christianity--A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Christian Population (Pew Research Religion and Public Life Project, 2011)

Texts:

• Christian Classics Ethereal Library
• Early Christian Writings

Christian Denominations:

Roman Catholicism:

• The Vatican: Holy See
• Catholic Encyclopedia (1907-1917 edition)
• Papal Encyclicals - What the Popes have said on many issues
• Saints and Angels (Catholic Online)

Protestantism:

• Anglican Communion
• Baptist World Alliance
• Friends General Conference (Quakers)
• Lutheran World Federation
• United Methodist Church
• Presbyterian Church (USA)

Orthodox:

• Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
• The Orthodox Christian Page in America
• Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Partriarchate)

Other:

• Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon.org is aimed at non-Mormons) (Mormons)

Islam

• About Islam and Muslims (Islamic Society of the University of Northumbria at Newcastle [UK])
• Al-Islam
• Islam 101
• Islam for Today - By a convert to Islam, aimed at non-Muslims
• Islam Guide: A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam - Questions and answers for non-Muslims
• Islamic Interlink - A very comprehensive site
• Islamic Studies, Islam, Arabic, and Religion - A "non-polemical view" from a religious studies professor at the University of Georgia
• Islamicity - A source for all aspects of Islamic culture
• Jannah - A huge site on Islam with lots of links and a special emphasis on Muslim women

Qur'an:

• Holy Qur'an Resources on the Internet - Links to many English translations and articles on the Qur'an
• Quran Subject Index
• Introductions to each Sura (chapter) of the Qur'an

Sufism:

• International Association of Sufism
• Sufism, Sufis, and Sufi Orders by Dr. Alan Godlas, U. of Georgia

Reactions Against Extremism:

• American Islamic Forum for Democracy
• Fatwa Against Terrorism by the Fiqh Council of North America, July 28, 2005 (PDF)
• Free Muslims Coalition - American Muslims against terrorism and for a peaceful resolution in the Middle East
• Institute for the Secularisation of Islamic Society (ISIS) [secularislam.org]
• Muslim Refusenik by Irshad Manji, author of The Trouble with Islam
• Revolutionary Association of the Women of Aghanistan (RAWA)
• Women Living Under Muslim Laws

Zoroastrianism

• Avesta: Zoroastrian Archives - Information on the religion and texts of its scriptures

Mythology

Greco-Roman myths, Arthurian myths, Norse myths, etc.

• Bulfinch's Mythology (Age of Fable), 1913 (Bartleby)
• Encyclopedia Mythica - Mythology from many cultures [pantheon.org]
• Frazer's Golden Bough - 1922 (Bartleby)
• Theoi Greek Mythology: Exploring Mythology in Classical Literature and Art - Encyclopedia of the gods and goddesses and their stories from the original literature

Western Philosophy

• The History of Philosophy - Interactive chart displaying how great philosophers have agreed and disagreed with each other (Deniz Cem Ondyugu)
• Big FAQ: god answers the big philosophical questions
• Björn's Guide to Philosophy
• The Edge - "To arrive at the edge of the world's knowledge, seek out the most complex and sophisticated minds, put them in a room together, and have them ask each other the questions they are asking themselves."
• EpistemeLinks - Thousands of links on all aspects of philosophy
• EServer's Philosophy page
• Existential Comics - Comics featuring famous philosophers, not just the existentialists. Learn about philosophy and have a laugh!
• Guide to Philosophy on the Internet by Peter Suber
• Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• Philosopher's Mail - It started out as a way to re-write the news (such as The Daily Mail) as philosophers would do so, but it's become a series of meditations on modern life
• Philosophy Around the Web - Philosophers, philosophy topics, reference, institutions' and personal pages
• Philosophy in Cyberspace - Branches of philosophy, philosophers, study of philosophy
• Philosophy Pages - Philosophers, history, dictionary of terms
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Philosophers:

• David Hume (New School)
• Marx/Engels Archives
• Bertrand Russell Archives
• Ludwig Wittgenstein

Ethics:

See also

• Custom and Etiquette
• The Ethicist, Column from the New York Times

Humanism, Secularism

• American Humanist Association
• Annotated Webliography of Humanism
• Freedom From Religion Foundation
• Secular Web [infidels.org]

  Skepticism:

• Resources for Independent Thinking - Promotes critical thinking
• Skeptical Information Links - Gateway to skepticism
• The Skeptic's Dictionary - By philosophy professor Robert T. Carroll

Eastern Religions:

Hinduism

• Hindu Resources Online [Hindu.org]
• The Hindu Universe [Hindunet.org]
• Hindu Website

Sikhism

• The Sikhism Home Page by Sandeep Singh Brar [Sikhs.org]
• Sikhnet - News and discussion
• SikhiWiki: Encyclopedia of the Sikhs

Buddhism

• BuddhaNet

• Tricycle: The Buddhist Review
• Urban Dharma: Buddhism in America

Zen Buddhism:

• Do Not ZZZ - Wow! You have got to see this site if you have any interest in Zen. It's an introduction to Zen, and it's the first really good use of Shockwave I've seen. (Hint: It's interactive. You can't just watch the animation.)
• Zen@MetaLab
• Zen Guide - History, concepts, discussion
• Zen Stories to Tell Your Neighbors
• Zen Teachings of Alan Watts
• Zen Web of Original Mind

Tibetan Buddhism:

• Dalai Lama - Official Web site of the 14th Dalai Lama

Taoism

• Daoism Depot
• Taoism Virtual Library
• Taoism.net
• The Useless Tree - Blog that discusses "ancient Chinese thought in American life"

I Ching (Yijing):

• See I Ching page, where you can cast the I Ching for yourself

Confucicianism

• The Cult of Confucius: Images of the Temple of Culture
• Wengu - Translations of classics of Chinese philosophy and literature

Religion and Philosophy Beyond Cyberspace